The Imam Sadiq University (Persian: دانشگاه امام صادق) is an Islamic private university in Tehran, Iran. Established in 1982, the goal of the university is to combine Islamic research and modern studies, especially humanities. The university was dedicated to training politicians and jurists preaching Islam. Reflecting its commitment to Islamic principles, the university separates educational environments for female and male students.

The university is regarded as one of the universities in Iran that has played a prime role in recruiting politicians and other prime figures in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Imam Sadiq University is significantly more autonomous than other Iranian universities in inviting and employing lecturers, because it is a private organization. Prominent reformist thinkers such as Abdolkarim Soroush, Hossein Bashiriyeh, Javad Tabatabaei have been given space to propound their own ideas in humanities.

The university offers BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees in political science, economics, Islamic jurisprudence, law (private law, public law, criminal law, international law), management, and communications. It has eight colleges in operation.

In 1969, before the Iranian Revolution, Habib Ladjevardi, one of the managers and entrepreneurs of the time, decided to establish and run the Iran Center of Management Studies (ICMS) to train leaders in all economic and industrial fields in collaboration with Harvard University in the US. The "Iran Management Studies Center" was founded, and courses in the field of management were taught under the supervision of Harvard University professors.^{[citation needed]}

Mohammad Taghi Barkhordar, also known as the father of Iran's manufacturing industries, like Habib Lajevardi, paid great attention to management issues and played a significant role in the foundation of Harvard University's branch in Iran. Barkhordar also held a chair on the board of trustees of this university. Additionally, twelve prominent Iranian economic figures, including Siavash Arjomand (Arjomand Industrial Group), Hedayatollah Behbahani (General Industrial Company), Hassan Khosroshahi (Minoo Industrial Group), Mahmoud Rezaei (Sarcheshmeh Copper Company), and Abdol-Ali Mirza Farman Farmaian (Pars Oil), were members of the university's board of trustees. The university building was designed by "Consulting Engineers Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and Associates," led by Nader Ardalan.

At this center, based on an intensive curriculum, discussions on 600 topics in various management areas were held with the presence of Iranian professors and Harvard University professors. Most of these discussions were in English. This university was able to deliver several cohorts of management graduates until the Islamic Revolution occurred.

Following the Islamic Revolution, in the course of property and asset confiscations, all properties, factories, and companies belonging to 53 capitalists and industrialists, including the Lajevardi family and Mohammad Ali Barkhordar, as well as board members such as the Arjomand brothers, the Rezaei brothers, the Khosroshahi family, and Abdolali Farmanfarmaian, were confiscated by the revolutionaries. Members of the Lajevardi family, including Habib, were forced to leave Iran due to attacks by revolutionary groups.

With the revolution, Imam Sadiq University became the first university to be established in Iran after the 1979 revolution and during the Cultural Revolution. In 1982, the university began operations by seizing the "Harvard" institute, renaming it "Imam Sadiq", changing its board of trustees and professors, its curriculum and educational structure, and transferring its ownership to Hossein-Ali Montazeri.